Apr. 27, 2006. 01:00 AM
GRAHAM FRASER
NATIONAL AFFAIRS WRITER
Article Link

OTTAWA—The Canadian government is seriously worried about the fate of Huseyincan Celil, a Canadian citizen imprisoned in Uzbekistan, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's parliamentary secretary said yesterday.

"We have ensured that there is a full-time consular official in Uzbekistan, assigned from the Moscow embassy," Jason Kenney told reporters. "We are using all possible diplomatic avenues to press for his release."

"It is outrageous that the Uzbeki authorities have detained Mr. Celil without any clear explanation as to why, or what their interest is in him," said Kenney (Calgary Southeast). "It is totally unacceptable to the government that it took some three weeks for Uzbeki authorities to permit access on the part of Canadian consular officials."

Celil, a Burlington imam, was accepted as a refugee in Canada because of persecution he suffered in China. He became a Canadian citizen in 2001.

He was arrested and imprisoned in Uzbekistan on March 27. He had visited the country with his wife and three children to spend time with his in-laws.

Celil was previously imprisoned in China and Kyrgyzstan for working on behalf of the minority Uyghur population in China's northwest Xinjiang province. His family fears he will be sent to China, with which Uzbekistan has strong ties, and killed.

Kenney called on the Uzbek authorities to co-operate with Canadian consular officials and give the reasons for his detention.

Amnesty International and 12 other human rights groups yesterday called on Harper to do everything he can to free Celil.

"Sparing nothing, Prime Minister Harper must make Mr. Celil's fate and safety a matter of absolute priority for his government and for himself personally," Alex Neve, secretary-general of Amnesty International Canada, said yesterday.

In a letter, Neve called on Harper to:

Insist that the Uzbek government release Celil and allow him to return to Canada, unless he is charged with a criminal offence and given access to a fair judicial process.

Ask for assurances that he will not be handed over to authorities of Kyrgyzstan or China.

Obtain regular consular access.

Seek assistance from other governments, notably Russia and the United States.

The letter was signed by other groups, including Rights and Democracy, PEN Canada, the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association, the Canada Tibet Committee, and the Canadian Council for Refugees.

"A systematic campaign of repression has been unfolding for many years, with the Chinese officials brutally repressing the Uyghur people and punishing those individuals who promote the political or cultural rights of Uyghurs," Neve said. "Arbitrary arrest, imprisonment and torture are widespread; many Uyghurs have been put to death."

Neve said Celil was imprisoned in China a decade ago, but was able to escape.

"Today, as he languishes in a prison in Uzbekistan, he finds himself at serious risk of being sent back to China, where he would almost certainly face imprisonment, torture and possibly execution — from which he had fled 10 years ago."

He said there is a pattern in Central Asia of turning prisoners over to Chinese authorities.

Celil's lawyer, Chris MacLeod, said he is being detained without charge.

He said there were concerns that the Chinese government may have become aware of him because he has spoken out in Canada.

"In Canada, we thought we could speak freely, and express our views and speak up about the Uyghur persecution, " his wife Kamila Telendibaeva told reporters yesterday.